Eyes of the Innocent
Basic summery
So this is a short story idea for Guin saga centering around the idea that Guin is turned into a kid, or (de-aged) to be more accurate. I may make an alternate version later where Guin is de-aged but not regressed. To sum it up in short, a young (and rather unimportant) mage accidentally summoned a venomous demon which attacks Guin and the gang – this takes place while he is traveling with the twins, Istavan, and Sunni – where it is killed. Guin gets scratched and thinks nothing of it but the mage sees it and casts a spell to keep the poison in the scratch from killing him. Now the group has to deal with a child Guin till the spell wears off.
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"Aw fiddle sticks!" a short kid spits out in frustration as he stumbles over yet another branch, his large hat flopping down over his eyes. Standing up the boy dusted himself off in disgust, why his sensei insisted on training him in the middle of nowhere was beyond him. Weren't mages supposed to stay where they could get customers? Shrugging his shoulders the boy decides it is a good thing, at the moment anyway. Only Janos knows what kind of disaster would take place had this happened in a populated area. The kid shuddered when he thought about it; he was already going to be in trouble for the ruined hut. Like a stubborn idiot he'd decided he could practice summonings on his own, but instead of a baby tree imp he'd gotten a vine hound – and not just any vine hound – he'd gotten a rotting vine hound. Now you might be wondering what's so bad about a rotting vine hound aside from its smell. To put it bluntly, they're coated in dried lethal venom that poison's its enemy via an injury.
A loud crunch startled the boy, but he quickly put on his "game face" and ran towards it. Maybe he wouldn't be in as much trouble if he got rid of the creature before his sensei got back. "Ayiii!" curse the fates the boy thought in a panic, why were there people out here? Sprinting as fast as his legs would allow the young apprentice bolted forth with his wand in hand. *whine* the boy halted at the edge of the clearing, his eyes on the creature as it struggled against the sword in its head before fading into nothingness. "Are you alright children?" a tall muscular figure with… a leopard's head?... asked as he yanked his sword out of the ground. "Y-yes, thanks Guin." A silver-white haired boy answered. "Figures you'd be able to kill it." A black haired man scoffed as he walked over to inspect where the hound had previously been, ignoring the glare he received from a silver-white haired girl.
The young mage had hidden himself in a nearby bush while observing the group. "Alfetto… alfetto ryaado!" a young semu girl cried as she ran towards the leopard warrior, followed by the girl. "Sunni, what's wrong?" she asked while glancing at the warrior, "G-Guin! You're hurt!" Guin just glanced at the long shallow scratch on his chest and shrugged it off, "It's just a scratch Rinda, nothing to worry over." His response seemed to calm the two girls, but hidden from the group the young apprentice was in a panic. Not good not good not GOOD! The group gathered to get ready to leave so the boy pulled out his wand. I hope this works he thought as he recalled an old spell he'd seen in one of the emergency scrolls. Speaking barely above a whisper he cast the spell, "Turn the clock and let age become strength, to stave off thine venomous fate. Dormant shall the years lay till death's harsh whisper fades away." A soft light glowed at the tip of the boy's wand, signaling that the spell had been successful. Breathing a sigh of relief the boy turned and headed back to the hut, he would gladly take any punishment his sensei gave him after this. He'd nearly cost someone their life.
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The group had been traveling for a while and decided to make up camp since the sky was now colorful with the setting sun. Guin was leaning against one of the trees, he felt really dizzy. "Oy leopard head", Istavan called from his spot by the fire, "you asleep on your feet or something?" Guin just grunted in response. Too dizzy. Istavan raised one of his eyebrows and scoffed in annoyance. Guin's vision suddenly blurred. "Guin!" Istavan shouted in shock, jumping to his feet as the leopard warrior suddenly collapsed onto the ground. Rinda was by his side before the mercenary. "He's burning up," she said as she placed a hand on the warrior's shoulder. Hearing this, Remus ran and grabbed one of the water canteens before rushing over; remembering when they'd first met Guin.
Despite managing to lower the fever Guin didn't wake up. "Damn idiot should have said something," Istavan muttered as he sat at the base of a tree, he wouldn't admit it but he'd started to actually care about the warrior and even see him as a friend. Guin was now lying under a cloak – which Istavan had "grudgingly" given – near the campfire. Rinda, Remus, and Sunni were lying around the fire as well and were sound asleep. Guess this means I've got first watch he thought as he stifled a yawn. He was NOT going to let himself fall asleep.
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The group was startled awake my a muffled cry followed by… was that a growl? Rinda looked towards the cause of the noise and gasped, "Where's Guin?" Istavan was on his feet in seconds, sword drawn and pointed at the moving bundle of cloth where Guin had been laying earlier. "Whatever is under here should know," he said in a low voice as he poked it lightly. A frightened squeak came from the bundle as it fell back, the cloak finally freeing the creature underneath. "What in the world?" everyone was awake now and was staring at the small form before them. His skin was tan and he was at least a hand shorter than Rinda. His head was that of a leopard cub, the fur fluffed out in all directions. "Guin?"
The child shrank back from the group's stare while making a squeaky attempt at a growl. Istavan burst out laughing, "What was that? A sad attempt to try and act tough?" "Istavan!" Rinda scolded him before turning to the cub. He's scared… "What is wrong Guin?" she asked soothingly as she cautiously approached him. "How do you know my name?" Guin said in a guarded response, fear flashing in his wide eyes. Judging by his voice he couldn't be any older than 5 or 6 years old. He doesn't remember… "We are friends," she finally told him. He didn't appear to believe her. "I-I'm not an idiot!" Guin shot back in an angry voice, "You're gonna kill or sell me aren't you!" That had everyone frozen in shock, a feeling of horror and dread gripping them. "No Guin, we won't do that. Why do you believe we would?"
Guin kept his muscles tense and ready to spring into action at a moment's notice, just as his father had taught him. He didn't trust them, they were humans. "Isn't that what humans always do! Attack what they don't understand and take advantage of what they can!" He could feel tears streaming down his face as the memories flooded his vision, those people will pay for what they did. No one knew what to do or say to the trembling cub, just what had happened to him exactly? Sunni walked over the Guin, catching his attention. Why is a Semu with them? "~~~~~~", Sunni quietly talked to Guin telling him that these people were different, and especially that Rinda had saved her from an evil count. The cub seemed to relax a little, though he was still wary of the man holding the sword that had poked him earlier. If a semu trusted them then maybe they really were different, he could at least try to give them a chance. Turning his gaze back to the people he gave a cautious smile, "I don't really trust you people, but if this Semu… Sunni right? Trusts you I guess I can give you a chance."
"I'm so relieved," Remus said in the background, glad that the tension had somewhat drained. Guin just stared at them for a moment with a serious look on his face. "You know my name but I don't know yours', so it's only fair you tell me," he stated while crossing his arms in what almost looked like a pout. Rinda just smiled in amusement and gave the introductions. Once everyone had been introduced they all returned to sitting around the campfire, Guin made a point to avoid the "evil" cloak he'd been trapped under earlier. Almost as soon as he sat down near the cozy warmth of the fire he fell asleep, a peaceful expression on his face. "Damn, out cold in seconds," Istavan said in amusement, "This little episode must have worn the kid out." It was late so they all went back to getting some sleep, they'd try to figure out why Guin was a kid in the morning.
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Morning had been hectic and hilarious. Apparently Guin wasn't a big fan of dried fruit and insisted on going hunting, but to his dismay there was nothing to catch. They eventually convinced him that they'd go hunting later if he ate the at least some of the food, and after making a face he unhappily agreed. Guin had then insisted that he should be allowed to carry one of the swords since there appeared to be an extra, but Istavan argued that children shouldn't carry such large weapons. In the end Guin got to carry one for a bit until his arms got sore, which took longer than they'd expected. He may have been a kid but he was still strong for his age.
They'd managed to travel for a few hours before finally stopping to take a break, and to stop Remus' whining. Guin didn't understand why the boy complained, it wasn't THAT much of a walk, and he was bored in minutes. A game of tag sounded fun, but he couldn't exactly ask them to play… he still was unsure of them. Suddenly a small shadow drifted across his line of sight, something was floating above them. Tingling with excitement Guin dashed after the floating thing and leapt into the air while swiping at it with his hands. He missed. Not the least bit discouraged he leapt again and again into the air after the mystery creature swiping and clawing in an attempt to catch it. Running up the side of a boulder he yelled in triumph as he finally brought the floating fiend to the floor. His victorious grin was replaced with embarrassed frustration when Istavan and Remus burst out laughing; Rinda covered her mouth to hide a smile. In his hands was – of all the things it could possibly have been – a large black feather. He'd been too caught up in the excitement to remember he was traveling with strangers and couldn't afford to indulge in childish games anymore, not since that day. After a few moments the laughter finally died and they decided it was time to move on, Guin avoided any and all eye contact with them. He just traveled silently with them and ignored their attempts to talk to him; they were probably just going to poke fun at him anyway.
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Author's Note:
Here's part one of my short story. I'm still working mostly on my story Dark Skies but I wanted to have something to alternate between. Just a Reminder, I do NOT own the Guin Saga characters or the series story. Since I have no clue what Guin's past is I'm creating one for this. Hope you all like it so far.
…. I just noticed… the sides have been rather quiet lately. They're probably just taking a break… ah well.